In that incident, the Spanish oil company Reposal was drilling an exploratory well when pressure from a pocket of gas triggered a “blowout,” with mud and methane gas exploding out of a pipe, the Daily News reported.

Luckily, even though the gas kept escaping from the pipe for hours, it did not ignite and none of the 76 people working on the rig were hurt.

Roughly 42,000 gallons of so-called “drilling mud” was released as a result of the blowout. That mud “is a clay mixture designed to lubricate the hole, carry out rock to the surface and provide downward pressure to reduce the risk of a blowout,” according to the Anchorage newspaper.

Blowouts have become rarer as a result of better technology, in terms of drilling and geologic modeling. But of course they do still happen, with the Daily News citing the BP tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico.

By the way, in Alaska the state Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is the watchdog governing worker safety, conservation and environmental protection.

TBI Voices Series

Archives

Brought to you by The Brain Injury Law Group, SC. The materials on this web page are provided purely for informational purposes. They are not intended to be legal advice. This information is intended, but not promised or guaranteed, to be correct, complete, and current. While this page is not intended to be a source of advertising, solicitation or legal advice, it could be deemed to be such.